Cricket study suggests mating filter narrows when males are trying to save energy

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A trio of biologists at the University of Minnesota has found that when male crickets need to save energy, they narrow their mating filter, to focus more exclusively on females.

In their paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Jon Richardson, Isabelle Hoversten and Marlene Zuk describe experiments they conducted with sexual filters in Pacific field crickets on varied diets and what they learned from them.

Prior research has found that some biologists, including zoologists, have left out data related to same-sex sexual behavior (SSB) during their research efforts, making it more difficult to understand such behavior in non-human creatures. Still, the research has shown that SSB is quite common in the wild across a range of creatures.

Such behavior is under investigation because it tends to take up a lot of energy and may even put some creatures at risk, without an apparent evolutionary advantage. In this new study, the research team focused their efforts on the idea of mating filters—where a creature increases or decreases its area of interest regarding its sexual behavior.

They chose to study certain aspects of male sexual behavior in the Pacific field cricket—a creature that is known to attempt to mate with both males and females of its kind. Prior research has shown that interest by males can be measured by tracking the intensity, or lack thereof, of the crickets' short-range courtship songs. Females have been found to be less receptive to males who fail to produce quality short-range tunes.

The experiment consisted of putting some of the males on a well-fed diet, and others on a restricted calorie diet. Members of each group were then given access to other crickets fed a normal diet to see if they would attempt to mate with them.

In watching and recording the behavior of the test males, the research team found that the hungry crickets were less likely than the well-fed crickets to attempt mating with other males—an example of narrowing their mating filter. They found no such change in attempts at mating with females. The researchers also found no change in the males that had been well-fed.

More information: Jon Richardson et al, Male crickets in poor condition engage in less same-sex sexual behavior, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2024). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2408811121

Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

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